PHILIPPINE hotel rates and airfare continue to be on a par with other countries in Southeast Asia, and should not be cited as a reason for why Filipinos are supposedly traveling overseas more instead of domestically.
Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) president Loleth So told the BusinessMirror, “Hotel rates remain competitive; we do not think that [local] hotel and airline rates are the reason for Filipinos to travel overseas. We think that because travel restrictions have been eased and lifted, after being cooped up in the country for three tears, the desire to travel abroad has greatly increased.”
She noted there was strong domestic tourists’ traffic “specifically to Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Davao and Boracay.” She was reacting to a lawmaker’s claim that the cost of airfare between nearby cities is more expensive than flying three hours away to Hong Kong or Singapore, and that local hotel rates cost more than double compared to the hotel rates in those cities. (See, “Pinoys prefer travel abroad; high airfare, hotel rates cited,” in the BusinessMirror, August 18, 2023.)
Challenges to growth
So does admit, however, to continued challenges in the growth of the tourism industry, specifically their sector. “Our challenge at the moment is availability of flights. Because right now, especially to the destinations, even to Metro Manila, it’s pretty tough to get the plane seat, the time and the date mainly because other countries are also opening globally. Based on our meetings with the airlines they [are experiencing] a shortage of aircraft. So obviously, we’re (hotels) affected,” she told reporters on the sidelines of HSMA’s general membership meeting on Thursday.
She cited as an example Boracay, when it used have have “five flights a day, but now that they’re growing [in tourist numbers, they only have] two to three flights a day….Apart from that, airfares have increased also. But you really cannot blame the airlines because everybody’s trying to recover years of losses. So we just really have to partner with them.”
The HSMA executive also cited rising fuel prices as impacting hotels’ cost of operations, as among their sector’s challenges. “You know, when fuel prices hike up, it’s a domino principle… everything [rises], even our operating expense obviously. Because we also rely on fuel, on raw materials, etc.”
September hotel deals
Still, the hotel accommodations sector remains confident that growth will continue, especially as the country approaches the “high season,” when bookings for stays and events increase toward the Christmas season. In general, “I would say that the hospitality industry is breathing better now compared to the pandemic. So we’re very hopeful that approaching the festive season, the Christmas holidays, it’s even going to look better than the previous years because there are no [more Covid] restrictions.”
At the HSMA meeting, the group also launched their annual September Online Sales, offering a “safe and secure online selling platform for consumers looking for rare discounts and deals on hotel rooms, restaurant outlets, social banguets, corporate meetings, hotel gym memberships, and other hospitality products and services.”
The month-long event—from September 1 to 30, 2023—carries the theme “Eat.Stay.Love. The Joys of Travel,” and will include offers from 91 participating HSMA-member hotels across the country. The deals may be accessed via www.hsma.org.ph/sos
PHL hotel rates, airfare ‘competitive’ with Asean neighbors, says HSMA
Source: News Paper Radio
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